Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Naqsh-e Rostam & Naqsh-e Rajabشقن و
متسر شقنبجر
The rock tombs at
Naqsh-e Rostam
(admission US$0.50; 8am-5pm winter,
8am-6.30pm summer)
are definitely worth visiting as part of your trip to Persepolis. Hewn
out of a cliff high above the ground, the four tombs are believed to be those of Darius II,
Artaxerxes I, Darius I and Xerxes I (from left to right as you look at the cliff) although
historians are still debating this. The tombs of the later Artaxerxes above Persepolis were
modelled on these. The reliefs above the openings to the funerary chambers are similar to
those at Persepolis, with the kings standing on thrones supported by figures representing
the subject nations below.
The seven Sassanian stone reliefs cut into the cliff depict scenes of imperial conquests
and royal ceremonies; there are detailed descriptions in front of the tombs and reliefs.
Facing the cliff is the Bun Khanak (Central Home). This was long thought to be an
Achaemenid fire temple, but scholars now argue that it might have been a treasury. The
walls are marked with inscriptions cataloguing later Sassanian victories.
Naqsh-e Rajab
(admission US$0.30; 8am-5pm winter, 8am-6.30pm summer)
is dir-
ectly opposite the turn-off to Naqsh-e Rostam on the old Shiraz-Esfahan road and is
worth a quick look. Three fine Sassanian bas-reliefs are hidden from the road by the folds
of a rocky hill and depict various scenes from the reigns of Ardashir I and Shapur the
Great. A man called Rajab once had a teahouse here, hence the name.
Most tours to Persepolis also stop at Naqsh-e Rostam and Naqsh-e Rajab. If you don't
have a vehicle and it's winter, you could walk the 6km from Persepolis to Naqsh-e
Rostam, stopping off at Naqsh-e Rajab en route. In summer, this would be idiotic. Altern-
atively, a round trip in a taxi
dar base
from Persepolis will cost US$9.
Pasargadaeداگراساپ
ELEV 1847M
Begun under Cyrus the Great in about 546 BC, the city of Pasargadae was quickly super-
seded by Darius I's magnificent palace at Persepolis.
Pasargadae
(admission US$0.50;
8am-5pm winter, 8am-7pm summer)
is about 50km north of Persepolis and some trav-
ellers have questioned whether it's worth the effort of getting there. The site is not nearly
as well preserved as Persepolis, but is beautiful in a lonely, windswept way. The hard-to-
